No, Taylor Swift did not write the novel that allegedly inspired the spy comedy under a pseudonym Argyle (VF). Except that this crazy theory, taken up as part of the promotion of the film, is more interesting than anything in this new production by Matthew Vaughn.
Elly Conway (Bryce Dallas-Howard) is the author of a series of bestselling novels chronicling the sexy adventures of secret agent Argylle (Henry Cavill). And the intrigues she designs are miles away from the timid existence she leads with her beloved cat. However, Elly becomes the target of a criminal organization concerned by the similarities between her occult activities and the events imagined by the novelist. Enter Aidan (Sam Rockwell), a real secret agent very different from his fictional equivalent: after The Spy Who Loved Meplace to The spy who annoyed me.
The plot borrows a little too much from Romancing the Stone (Chasing the green diamond), with Kathleen Turner, and The Lost City (The lost city), with Sandra Bullock. Bryce Dallas-Howard unfortunately does not have the charisma of her predecessors, she struggles to carry the film. Sam Rockwell does quite well, like Catherine O’Hara, but the rest of the cast hardly impresses.
The first big piece of bravery occurs in a railway context, and for its part betrays the influence of Bullet Train (High-speed train): the comparison is not to the advantage ofArgyle. What follows is a parachute escape captured in images using sloppy digital effects: this will unfortunately be a constant in a film with an aesthetic as artificial as its screenplay. A scenario that multiplies the twists and turns, overexplaining them all, to the point of nonsense.
In this regard, the numerous lengths weighing down the film, which lasts almost two hours and 20 minutes, give ample opportunity to see the main revelation concerning Elly coming. The nesting structure – or “meta”, as desired – quickly becomes repetitive. By adding more, the ambient playfulness ends up ringing false.
Bloated and labored
The film, on the other hand, has certain qualities specific to Matthew Vaughn, starting with a deliberately outrageous treatment of violence (here less bloody than usual) within a stylized reality: a shootout taking place in a cloud of multicolored smoke and a confrontation on an improvised ice rink are as funny as they are expertly choreographed.
Only here, on the whole, is what worked wonderfully in his previous Kick-Ass And Kingsman: The Secret Service (Kingsman. Secret Service), appears here bloated and labored – as in the recent pre-episode The King’s Man (Kingsman. First mission), of sad memory. There’s also something inherently lazy about resorting to close-ups of an adorable cat every time you’re at a loss for how to end a scene.
During a late sequence, Aidan is the subject of torture. However, waiting for the end credits, in view of the inevitable hidden scene, turns out to be a much worse torture.